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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23538991">Nine in the Afternoon</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RamboBrite/pseuds/RamboBrite'>RamboBrite</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff and Smut, Inspired by Twitter, Magic AU, Porn With Plot, Rey is a witch, Sex Magic, Sex Pollen, Shameless Smut, Slightly dubcon, Soft Ben Solo, ben is a warlock, ben just wants to help rey hang some shelves, ceiling sex, lukes magic shop, magical sexsplosions, rey is a boss lady, sex flowers, spfic, spring is for sex pollen, the rona made me write this, they love to argue, uncontrolled powers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:08:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,890</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23538991</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RamboBrite/pseuds/RamboBrite</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“I can’t believe you,” she cried out, seeing her organization completely destroyed. “I just asked you to look after the shop for a few minutes. Not,” she waved a hand, causing a few items to bob in midair, “completely wreck everything. It’s going to take me hours to fix this, and I had plans tonight.”</p><p>He clenched his jaw and let the items floating about come back to rest on the floor, his face now becoming irritated. “What’s there to fix? It was a total mess before I started.”<br/>---<br/>When Luke leaves Rey in charge of Tatooine, Tonics and Tinctures, his magical apothecary, she is absolutely ecstatic to run the shop alone. Alone, except for Luke's nephew of course. With a bad attitude and a total lack of work ethic, he is the thorn in Rey's side. But what happens when the two accidentally destroy a shipment of powerful Venerem pollen?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey &amp; Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>304</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts), Sex Pollen to the Rescue</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Nine in the Afternoon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My contribution for the #spfic challenge from twitter. I had far too much fun writing this one.</p><p>Not beted by anyone, and this one is hot off my keyboard, so, there's that.</p><p>--</p><p> I accidentally filled a reylo Twitter prompt with this one too</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rey hummed to herself as she dusted the shelves of the little magical apothecary where she worked. Her boss, Luke Skywalker had left <em>her </em>in charge while he was busy scouting new suppliers for their magical wares and sundries. She had swelled with pride when he’d given her the keys to, quite frankly, the best ingredients store this side of Coruscant. She had arrived early that day to await the arrival of one of their most coveted ingredients, the pollen of the rare Venerem Lily.</p><p> </p><p>She had an in with the local magi-botanists who grew them, and Luke had been thrilled when she’d helped secure their shop’s claim to the hard to come by ingredient. It was so important because Venerem Lily pollen was one of the most crucial parts of many euphoric potions and tinctures, and even more importantly love potions. It was a stringent process to obtain the pollen because the blooms themselves didn’t last exceptionally long.</p><p> </p><p>But it just so happened that Rey’s best friend, Finn, was partners at the Tico Greenhouse with a prize grower of Venerem Lilies. Yes, Rose, as her name implied, had the greenest magical thumb in the tri-county area. She didn’t really have any use for the pollen as her prize was the bloom itself. So, when she was finished with a growth of lilies, Finn would carefully extract the pollen, stopper it up and deliver it to Luke’s shop where they made a hefty profit.</p><p> </p><p>Rey continued to fuss around the store, moving some of the most popular items into the center aisles, instead of where she noted with some irritation, they’d been tucked out of sight. She looked at the time and adjusted her sales apron until a gentle knocking on the back door caused her to look around. She grinned cheerfully at Finn who waved and beckoned for her to unlock the door. She fiddled with the lock and he stepped inside, looking about as if someone could divine the prize he carried for her. After seeing that no one was around at six in the morning he pulled a jam jar, filled with a deep mauve powder, from his coat.</p><p> </p><p>Rey held out her hands happily, but Finn hesitated. He looked at her and started, “Rey, I want to give you fair warning, Rose has outdone herself with this new crop.”</p><p> </p><p>“Perfect!” Rey started, but Finn shook his head.</p><p> </p><p>“No, you don’t understand. You need to be <em>really </em>careful with this batch. Rose has been working on making bigger blooms and it’s increased the potency of the pollen,” Finn said before gingerly setting the jar into her hands. Rey took it cautiously. “Normally I don’t bother to wear a mask while I’m harvesting; a little pollen never hurt anyone and usually I just end up with a little mild euphoria if I’m not careful. But these…well….” He merely shuddered and continued, “You should advise your customers to <em>halve </em>the recommended dosage in their potions.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” Rey said, her eyes widening a bit. “That bad, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“Rose hasn’t been able to look at me for a week,” he said, looking away. This caused Rey to laugh at his discomfort. “Just-just promise me you’ll be <em>extremely </em>careful, okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course,” Rey said, dismissing his fears. “You know I am the epitome of safety. I’ll even put this up out of the reach of careless hands, right now. Okay?” She slid the ladder over and placed the little jar securely on the highest shelf where no one’s misbehaving child could accidentally reach and cause mayhem. Finn seemed appeased by her measures and nodded, exhaling in relief.</p><p> </p><p>Now that the necessary exchange had been made, Rey pulled out the coins to pay Finn. He slipped the money into his back pocket, and they let their conversation drift away from the pollen. “So, are you coming over for game night tonight?”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it,” Rey replied, her smile lighting up.</p><p> </p><p>“Excellent, I’ll let Rose know,” he said, and waved to her before departing.</p><p> </p><p>She flitted about the store some more as opening time came closer and closer. She glanced at the clock on the wall and without further ado, flipped the open sign over to welcome patrons. It was at this point that she heard crashing coming from the back and some rather loud swearing. She pinched the bridge of her nose, knowing exactly who was disrupting the tranquility of her shop.</p><p> </p><p>Sure enough, it was none other than Ben Solo, Luke’s nephew who was only working at the store for the summer before heading back to his graduate program in astrological runekeeping or something else equally self-important. Ben had from the first time she’d met him, a little over a month ago, held a certain disdain for “retail” work and spared no opportunity to complain. And now here he was, like a hippogriff in a china shop, and she groaned at the mess.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ve spoiled the scarabs,” she complained, looking at the shattered bottles on the floor with dismay.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t see what the big deal is,” he grumbled, and waved his hand to pick up the glass shards, “besides, you shouldn’t have left them in the way.”</p><p> </p><p>“No one wants glass shards in their restoration potions; and they <em>need </em>to spend several weeks sunning before they’re ready to be sold,” she huffed, and then inspected the damage as it hovered in the air. Her face drooped at the sight. She’d have to prepare a brand-new batch entirely. “You’ve managed to trod all over most of them as it is.”</p><p> </p><p>“Fine, whatever,” Ben replied, and flicked his hand to send the mess into the garbage can. “What mindless tasks did you have for me today?”</p><p> </p><p>He looked at her with a bored expression, and Rey thought that this day was already shaping up to be long. She sighed and said, “Can you just...I don’t know, grind the mugwort?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure thing, <em>boss,</em>” he said, with a sarcastic smile and she grimaced. She watched his towering form retreat to the store cupboard to retrieve the herb. Ben Solo never seemed happy here, probably because he considered the work beneath him. He had been incredibly disappointed in his first week to find that Luke didn’t generally cater to the incendiary or otherwise destructive potions that Ben considered worthwhile, but rather the more domestic brews that Rey thought were still <em>just </em>as important.</p><p> </p><p>The little bell over the door jingled then, and Rey was off in a flash to start helping her first customer. The day seemed to drag on, if only because Ben was just as careless with mugwort as the scarabs. She let him come to the storefront thinking perhaps he’d be more tolerable if he had to interact with some kindly middle-aged witches, but that was a mistake. She was completely appalled when he actually made Mrs. D’Acy cry. Rey immediately shooed him into the back again to avoid losing her and Luke’s entire customer base. She finally settled on something that seemed just perfect for Ben; it was mindless enough that she could leave him unattended for a while, but it was also something that actually needed done so he couldn’t complain that she was giving him busy work.</p><p> </p><p>“I need you to organize the back stores and do inventory,” she said, trying to muster as much of her natural optimism as she could, given his dour mood. He raised an eyebrow and she could feel her patience growing thin. “Just…come on.” He followed her into the back room, and she explained her system to him, floating a clipboard into his reach as she did so. He rolled his eyes, grabbed the floating clipboard and set about the task. When she was reasonably certain that he had the situation under control she went back to the front of the store and poured herself into the work.</p><p> </p><p>She went back to check on him and was actually impressed with the progress he’d made. Several jars floated through the air, aligning themselves to the proper places. She could see that he’d been meticulous in his stock taking, even jotting several helpful notations down on the clipboard. It had taken her months to become truly comfortable with the variety of wares that they sold here, and she thought to extend an olive branch to him.</p><p> </p><p>“I really like how thorough you were, Ben,” Rey said, trying to gather a smile. “This looks much better than before.”</p><p> </p><p>He scoffed, “Yeah, well any idiot can do inventory.” The words were like an icy bath, and she glowered at him before turning on her heel to go. She wondered if she’d be able to get through two more days of working alone with him here, let alone two more months before he was safely out of her hair.</p><p> </p><p>The last straw of the day, however, was when Rey had to take a delivery of Moldavian Charworms from one of her least favorite vendors, Unkar Plutt. Luke normally had to haggle with the man, but with Luke gone the task fell to Rey. Luckily, she’d studied her employer’s ledgers and knew exactly how much they had been paying for the charworms lately. She bit her lip though because the process was never exactly short. With a quick glance at the store, thankfully empty, she called out to Ben. He looked up from where he had been making a paste out of the dried caterpillars.</p><p> </p><p>“Can you-“ she started, not sure if she should finish the sentence. “Can you mind the shop…for a few minutes….while I handle this?” Ben looked at Plutt, scratching his nose and looking even more foul tempered than himself and nodded. Rey exhaled a sigh of relief that he wasn’t arguing with her in front of Plutt at the very least and went out to haggle with the man.</p><p> </p><p>It became very apparent that Plutt did not respect her as much as he did Luke (which was impressively little to begin with). They spent at least fifteen minutes arguing about how he didn’t do business with witches before he finally gave her a price. “Twenty? But last week you were selling the charworms for ten per ounce.”</p><p> </p><p>“Supply and demand,” Plutt said tauntingly. “Or shall I take my wares elsewhere?” Rey avoided biting her lip, she wouldn’t give Plutt the satisfaction of seeing her tell. Instead she narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, feigning to inspect the goods.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think these are even the same quality as last week,” she sniffed, and this seemed to incense the merchant. “Why would I pay double the price for substandard goods?”</p><p> </p><p>“Where else are you going to get more?” he retorted, attempting to call her bluff. She would not be intimidated by the man who resembled a blob fish.</p><p> </p><p>“Luke is expanding our vendor list as we speak,” she said casually, “I’m sure the shop can survive another week without a fresh supply of charworms.” This tactic seemed to be getting her more traction, if just only a bit.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine, fifteen,” he said, and Rey pressed the advantage.</p><p> </p><p>“I refuse to pay more than twelve for these,” she said, crossing her arms and staring down Plutt as Luke had instructed her to do. She saw the man glare at her before finally sticking out a sweaty paw. She took it gingerly, trying to avoid showing her disgust, and paid the man. When she went to go grab the heavy bag of charworms from the back of his truck, Plutt beat her to them. He looked as if he was going to hold the burlap sack out for her, but then dropped it unceremoniously at her feet. Rey rolled her eyes, and merely waved a hand to entice the bag to follow her back into the confines of the store. She gasped at the sight of the chaos inside the storefront, losing her concentration and letting the charworms fall once more to the ground in surprise.</p><p> </p><p>Ben had completely rearranged her system. She was already in a poor mood after having to deal with Plutt but this was too much. “What have you done?”</p><p> </p><p>He looked over at her, oblivious at first to her horror. He called over his shoulder, “Well, since you liked the storeroom so much, I decided to rearrange everything out here too.” Rey tried to take control of the floating items, but Ben’s own magical pull on them was quite strong. He did notice her try, however and turned to look at her, his smile fading after seeing her look like a storm cloud.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t believe you,” she cried out, seeing her organization completely destroyed. “I just asked you to look after the shop for a few minutes. Not,” she waved a hand, causing a few items to bob in midair, “completely wreck everything. It’s going to take me <em>hours </em>to fix this, and I had plans tonight.”</p><p> </p><p>He clenched his jaw and let the items floating about come back to rest on the floor, his face now becoming irritated. “What’s there to fix? It was a total mess before I started.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, it wasn’t!” Rey cried out, coming around the counter. “I spent weeks getting everything in the proper place for peak sales.”</p><p> </p><p>“Could have fooled me,” he sniffed, “I haven’t been able to find anything in this stupid place.” Rey wanted to rail about the intricacies of marketing and merchandise placement but knew it would just go over his stupidly high head.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, well maybe if you actually paid attention when I tried to teach you, you’d know,” Rey retorted, “Instead you just space out every time like you’ve got something better to do. Now I’m going to have to fix everything <em>by hand</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well don’t let me keep you,” he said sarcastically, turning to leave. She couldn’t believe he’d messed everything up, but now even more she couldn’t believe that he was just going to abandon her to fix it by herself.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, how absolutely typical,” she said angrily. “Make me do all the hard work. Again!”</p><p> </p><p>“What did you say?” he asked, his voice going low with anger as he turned back.</p><p> </p><p>“You heard me,” Rey replied, punctuating her words with venom. “You’ve ruined everything!”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, well you’re not Miss Perfect either,” Ben said, towering to his full height.</p><p> </p><p>“I never said I was,” she bit back, getting closer to him. She refused to be intimidated, “But at least I got the job on my own.” The shelves began to shake around them with their mutual energies.</p><p> </p><p>“At least I don’t have a stick up my ass,” he said, and she growled at his assessment.</p><p> </p><p>“Well maybe if you actually <em>helped</em> me, instead of being a lazy-“</p><p> </p><p>“Uptight.”</p><p> </p><p>“Arrogant!”</p><p> </p><p>“Prissy!”</p><p> </p><p>“Spoiled!”</p><p> </p><p>The shop began to practically vibrate around them as they found themselves practically nose to nose, biting insults out. Normally these magical displays were only common among children who didn’t yet have their powers under control yet, but two fully matured magic users that were this angry made a formidable sight. Jars and items began to whirl around them in the store.</p><p> </p><p>“You hate it here!” she cried out, staring into his brown eyes. “Why don’t you save all of us all a lot of trouble and just quit!?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, you’d like that wouldn’t you?” he said, a smirk on his face now that incensed her further. “You want to know what I think?”</p><p> </p><p>“No!” she bit out, knowing that whatever he was going to say was just designed to make her even more upset with him.</p><p> </p><p>“I think you secretly like me being here and messing up your perfect little world,” he said haughtily, and she had to practically laugh at how ridiculous the assertion was. Ben Solo of the big head was not going get the satisfaction of knowing that despite his massive character flaws she couldn’t deny that he was, at least a little, if she squinted, and ignored whatever he was saying, sort of, maybe a bit attractive.</p><p> </p><p>“You are absolutely <em>impossible!” </em>she shouted now and shoved him.</p><p> </p><p>“Pushing? Really? What are you twelve?” he asked, and by now Rey was seeing red as he shoved her back. He was stronger than her and so she was knocked back a couple of steps. She was gearing up to slap him until her eyes caught on a flash of violet that brought her to a screeching halt. The jar of Venerem pollen was whizzing about them in a precarious dance. Ben’s eyes caught on the item and with a mischievous glint in his eyes, he focused his energy on the jar, bringing it to a stop, just out of her reach.</p><p> </p><p>“Ben,” she said, warning in her tone, “Give that to me <em>this </em>instant.”</p><p> </p><p>“No,” he said, “I don’t think I will.”</p><p> </p><p>“Really, mature. Who’s twelve again?” she asked and tried to grab it out of the air. She jumped for it, but he jerked it just ever so higher. “This isn’t a game, Ben.”</p><p> </p><p>“Try again. Maybe you’ll get it this time.” She was practically spitting with rage at his teasing.</p><p> </p><p>“I said <em>give it to me!”</em> she said in frustration and tried to tug on it with her own energy now. She was a powerful witch in her own right, and she would be damned if she was going to be bested by him. He held on to the jar and a powerful tug of war of increasing intensity began between them, escalating as the jar whizzed first toward her, then back toward him until finally with a sickening crack the glass of the jar exploded under their combined might and a cloud of purple showered down upon them. She tried to hold her breath but knew that it was of no use and proceeded to cough and sneeze on the delicate powder. A sickly-sweet scent permeated the entire shop now and her eyes widened in horror.</p><p> </p><p>The fight went out of Ben at the destruction and he looked almost repentant. “Hey, I’m-“</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up,” Rey said quietly but firmly, already trying to think through the logistics of this catastrophe. Raw Venerem pollen was dangerous, which was why they only sold it by the grain. Normally they had about twenty minutes before the pollen completely permeated the bloodstream, but at these quantities and after what Finn had told her about the increased strength. She shuddered in terror at what was about to happen to both of them.</p><p> </p><p>The first order of business was to seal the doors of the shop. She set about putting charms on them that should last until the effects of the pollen wore off. Ben seemed confused though as she chanted under her breath.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing?” he questioned, “I thought Luke had warding spells on the place already.”</p><p> </p><p>She quirked her brow. “They’re not to keep anyone out. They’re to keep us <em>in</em>. That was Venerem pollen, Ben.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” he said dumbly, not understanding her and she sighed. She could feel a gentle tingling starting in her fingertips already and tried to push down the panic inside of her. She paused just long enough to snap her fingers, summoning the tome of ingredients the store carried and letting the pages flip quickly to the section on the rare powder. She supposed she shouldn’t be that surprised that a warlock of his nature wouldn’t have bothered to learn about love potion ingredients. He skimmed the entry quickly, his expression changing, and she saw with some small satisfaction that at the end he at least looked just as horrified as her.</p><p> </p><p>“What do we do?” he asked, his deep voice small now.</p><p> </p><p>“We obviously can’t leave here now, not until the effects wear off,” she said, “With raw pollen that’s usually about twelve hours or so. And it’ll be safer for us to be locked away from each other.” He nodded in assent. “I think you’ll need to go in the store cupboard. I can seal you in there and-“</p><p> </p><p>“Why do <em>I</em> need to go in that closet?” he asked, his tone taking on a hint of irritation. “I’m bigger, and I can probably do a better sealing charm than you.”</p><p> </p><p>“I literally don’t care,” she huffed and began to approach him to push him towards the cupboard. She paused as she felt the taut sinews of his chest. He looked down at her hand, lingering on him and back at her, a smirk turning up the corner of his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, shut up,” she said, her voice slightly breathless now as waves of euphoria began to lap at the edges of her consciousness. She was the smaller of the two, so of course it would begin to affect her first. “It’s just…the…pollen.” She began to bunch the fabric of his shirt under her hand, her nails raking over his chest.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, sweetheart, you’re going to need to come with me,” his voice almost tender and she looked at him oddly at the pet name. “S-sorry, I don’t know why I said that…” He was blushing now, as he tried to lead her towards the store cupboard that he’d painstakingly arranged earlier that day. He managed to get her in the door but then stopped, letting his hands wander over shoulders. Rey shivered slightly at the touch and Ben pulled his hand back quickly as if burnt. Rey was just noticing that he had very nice arms and reached out to grab him. He hesitated at first but let her tug at his hand, running her fingers up the coarse skin. His arm was covered in fine black hairs that prickled into gooseflesh at her touch.</p><p><br/>
She smirked up at him, that heady feeling overwhelming her senses until she felt drunk on it. “How long?”</p><p> </p><p>“How long, what?” he asked, trying desperately to look anywhere but her as she gazed up at him from beneath her lashes.</p><p> </p><p>“How long have you been thinking about me?” He seemed nervous and panicked at the statement and she used the temporary drop in his guard to come closer to him. “Do you want to know how long I’ve been thinking about <em>you</em>?”</p><p> </p><p>“Rey, this isn’t- I don’t think-“ he started, holding her at arms-length as he backed himself into a set of shelves. Whatever he was about to say was cut off as he felt her under his large hands. He cleared his throat, still lingering on her.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t think, what?” she questioned, invading his space again now.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t remember,” Ben replied, his voice husky now. He brought his hand up slowly, ever so slowly to brush his fingertips over her cheek. Rey practically purred into the touch and he let out a little strangled choking noise as she leaned into his hand. Rey gathered his shirt front into her hands and yanked him downwards to her. He eagerly pressed his lips to hers and Rey felt absolutely intoxicated on his touch.</p><p> </p><p>Now she was very abruptly twining her arms around his neck and he had wrapped her completely in his own grip. His hands roamed over her back, over her ass, and one to firmly grip the back of her head. He let out a frustrated whine at the bun that held up her hair and tugged at it until it loosened, and her hair spilled over her shoulders. Rey shook it out and tried to press herself closer to Ben’s tall frame, molding herself over him.</p><p> </p><p>She succeeded in pushing him backwards into the neat shelves where a few items managed to dislodge themselves from the force of Ben’s rudely large body hitting the wood. He let out a low groan that might have been part pain but was definitely mostly pleasure. Rey ran her hands through his hair, silky black strands slipping between her fingers like water.</p><p> </p><p>“God, I wondered what that felt like,” she whispered against his mouth before diving back in. Their tongues tangled and she could taste peppermint and him. He responded by grabbing her by the waist and flipping her around so <em>her </em>back was now pressed into the floor to ceiling ledges. Her bottom lip was between his teeth and she sighed into his mouth. All that Rey knew was that however close he was to her, she wanted more.</p><p> </p><p>As if reading her mind, he hitched her leg up and began to caress the curve of her ass and pressed himself against her front. She could feel him there, already ready as he rolled his hips against her like the ocean roiling against a cliffside. The friction only served to make her skin feel flushed and overly warm in the best way. “You’re so soft,” he muttered almost incoherently as his hands started to roam further.</p><p> </p><p>Rey ran her hands over the broad expanse of his chest, feeling the hard planes that were hidden underneath his clothing. “You’re so-so big.” There was a touch of wonder in her voice, but if he found it funny, he didn’t show it and merely continued to grind over her with a roughness that was pure bliss. Finally, the heat in her face started to overpower her and she pushed back against him. He stepped away as Rey began to claw at her clothing.</p><p> </p><p>“Too warm.” She’d been reduced to monosyllabic babble in her frenzy. He nodded as if understanding completely. Without further ado he grabbed at the collar of her blouse and yanked it open from her collarbone to her bellybutton, buttons catapulting themselves in every direction. She looked at him gratefully and he took the opportunity to gaze at the tan expanse of her breasts and stomach with appreciation.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re so-oh my god, just-“ Then his hands were back on her, a flame over her skin, as he pushed the remnants of her shirt off of her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. He caressed the tops of her breasts and they passed a moan between their mouths at the contact.</p><p> </p><p>It didn’t take very long before the warmth was crawling over his own skin and he yanked his shirt off unceremoniously, revealing a toned abdomen. Rey’s hands drifted over the creamy span, her fingers trying to learn every change in elevation, every contour of his muscles. Then her hands were drifting lower as they fiddled clumsily with the buckle on his belt. He seemed to sense her intentions and let out an animalistic moan as she undid the button and dropped the fly. A string of profanities came out of him as she pressed a hand inside to cup him over his boxer-briefs before rubbing gently. There was a spot of wetness where he was soaking through the cotton fabric, and she trained a thumb over it causing him to push her more roughly against the walls of items. More things fell and shattered in their tumult.</p><p> </p><p>Then he was picking her up and Rey had to bring her arms up to support herself against him. She wrapped her legs firmly around his middle as he moved from her mouth down the line of her jaw and to her neck where he clamped his lips firmly on the soft flesh there. She let out a loud moan that made him make a growling noise, only intensifying his efforts. She responded by fiercely gripping his hair, almost to the point of pain. Rey managed to jerk his head back and he looked at her with question in his wild eyes. She responded by laving a stripe with her tongue from his Adam’s apple, up the contour of his neck and jaw, and then set about marking him in turn. She could smell the cologne he used there against his skin along with the pleasant tang of sweat and some masculine scent that was all his own. He rumbled out his approbation to this change and went back to grinding against her. The movement caused his already loose pants to sink down to his ankles and he let her down then to rip them from himself, taking his socks and shoes with them.</p><p> </p><p>Rey was still feeling overheated and undid the button to her own pants, shimmying them down her hips. She looked up at Ben, now only in the underwear that clung to his thighs and drank in his appearance. She stepped back to him, enjoying the contact of their bared skin and pushed him back across the room, ruining the contents of that shelf as well. She nipped hard at the skin of his chest and then like a snake coming to rest into a basket, she swayed every downwards until she was on her knees before him. He looked down at her and she could see his normally brown eyes were dark with desire for her. Rey hooked her fingers into the waistband of his boxers and brought them down before placing a hand on each of his thick corded thighs. He let out a low whine in anticipation as she breathed over the tip of him. She did an experimental flicker of her tongue on his head and his hand snapped down to tangle in her hair. “Rey, fuck-“ he stuttered.</p><p> </p><p>She decided not to keep him in suspense and ran the flat of her tongue from stem to stern before taking him entirely into her mouth.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck,” he exclaimed, his hand tightened on her scalp, large fingers gripping her as if he might fall off the edge of the world, as she worked him. Ben let out a hiss as she angled her gaze upwards to find his and she could feel him itching to pump his hips against her. She brought her hands behind him to cup at the taut structure of his ass and then he did begin to roll himself into her. She didn’t let her hands linger too long in one spot, bringing them back around to grip him and twist at the base, supplementing the work of her mouth. She could feel the jerk of his hips grow more erratic, a pulsing starting deep within him. Then he keened a final low moan that might have been her name and she could feel him spill into her, the salty bitter taste stinging at the back of her throat when she swallowed. He slumped backwards into the shelf and then looked where she remained kneeling before him. The objects that she hadn’t noticed he had been floating crashed to the floor around them.</p><p> </p><p>Ben sunk down to his own knees and pressed her roughly backwards, catching her head with one large palm so that she wouldn’t hit it as he laid her out before him. The look in his eyes was hungry and demanding as he kissed her, tasting himself there on her tongue. His body was warm and weighty atop her, but he didn’t let it linger for long as he splayed his hands over her chest. She arched her back so he could slip a hand behind her to pinch the clasp of her bra. Ben made quick work to rip it from her and her nipples pebbled to the sudden exposure. One of his large hands came up to caress circles around the swell of one breast, as his tongue darted out to tease at the other. Rey felt his other arm wandering, searching, until he found his target and stroked the tips of two fingers over the fabric of her underwear. He grumbled from the back of his throat after finding her already ready for him and roughly shoved the fabric aside. She could feel a pressure building there as he first used her own wetness to stroke circles at her apex and then dipping back down to bury first one, then two fingers deep inside. She wriggled beneath him at the sudden sensation and he pressed down on her with one large forearm to keep her pinned beneath him.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, god, Ben,” she gasped, and he looked up at her.</p><p> </p><p>“Say it again,” he commanded. “Say my name again.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ben,” Rey cried out and he responded with further attentions as he moved down from her breasts to her stomach and then he was taking the waistband of her underwear between his teeth. He pulled them off roughly to get to his prize and then he was back again, lapping at her opening with his tongue. He moved back upwards, alternating between using the flat of his tongue and the tip. She could feel her magic growing less and less controlled and a current was shivering over her body now, causing the hairs on his forearms to stand up from the static she was causing in the room. He tucked his fingers back inside, and between the sensations from the current rolling over her skin and his ministrations she felt herself making the ascent at breakneck speed. When her mind blanked out from the waves of pleasure, he’d caused she shot the electricity out through her fingertips, leaving scorch marks on the walls.</p><p> </p><p>He rocked backwards to sit between her legs and pulled her limp body up towards him. She crawled into his lap and began to kiss at his lips, tasting her own acidic flavor there. She positioned herself over him, and started to drop down slowly, mewling out as she went. He grunted at her slow descent, trying to coax her down his length faster. When she had him firmly seated within her she began to rock back and forth as he dug his fingers hard into the soft flesh of her hips. Rey let out little gasps as he started to bounce her on his thighs, plunging himself deeper with each stroke.</p><p> </p><p>She could hear the creaking of the shelves as he continued to thrust into her. “God, Ben, fuck me,” she called out and then he was picking her up from the floor, massaging her tongue with his own as he his frantic rhythm. Rey dragged her nails roughly over his back as she tried to keep hold in the precarious position. His arms were strong around her and she lolled her head backwards as his movements became more desperate. She could feel another wave building inside of her and she could tell he was holding out for her. When found that blissful release he followed after her and their magic was comingling for just a moment. The force of it caused the shelves to completely collapse and Ben gently came back down to the ground, still holding her, to lay panting among the wreckage. She rolled off of him and they lay on their backs staring at each other.</p><p> </p><p>Sleep came in short bursts to them that night, punctuated with more of the same. Their energies were pulsing in sync with each other and more shows of wild magic came forth. Once they caused an entire assortment of flowers to bloom in Luke’s office until it was like they were in some sort of Eden. Then another time they managed to set the stone floor around them ablaze, the flames crackling happily and only spurring on the rising heat between the pair. A fourth, or maybe fifth time as neither were keeping track by that point, they had both floated to the ceiling and used it like a second floor.</p><p> </p><p>Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, as the sky turned from inky black to cobalt to a pale grey, exhaustion started to overtake Rey. It looked like Ben was the same, so with her body shaking from the strain she draped an arm over his chest and let the darkness of sleep overtake her thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>When Rey began to stir again, she became aware of a few things. First, the effects of the pollen had worn off. It wasn’t unlike a hangover except instead of a raging headache there was just an cognizance of the sharp edges of the world once more. Second, she was completely naked. That wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn’t been for the third thing. And that third thing was that she was arrayed rather lewdly over a large, warm body that was lightly snoring. Venerem pollen didn’t cause memory loss, unfortunately, so as the last vestiges of sleep started to leave her, she became acutely aware of exactly <em>whose </em>large body she sprawled over.</p><p> </p><p>Panic began to build inside of her chest, and she didn’t realize that he had also awoken until she heard a low, sleepy, “G’morning.”</p><p> </p><p>She sat up abruptly and tried to cover herself with her hands as Ben propped up on an elbow to survey her. His black waves were tousled in an absolute mess and she supposed that she probably didn’t look any better. She dipped her head between her knees to steady herself as she could mutter, “Oh god, oh god, oh god.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, it’s okay,” she heard Ben murmur as he rubbed a gentle hand over her bare back. She didn’t want to admit that she actually enjoyed the sensation now that the truth of what had happened was in the cold, light of day. “I feel it too.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, it’s not okay,” she snapped, hot tears starting to prickle at her eyes. She was thankful that he couldn’t see her face right now, buried as it was between her thighs, but he could probably hear her as she stifled little sobs. “Luke left me in charge, and now…the entire shop is ruined, and he’s going to fire me, and, and, and-“ She wanted to say <em>‘and now we’ve slept together’</em> but couldn’t get the words out. Part of her was appalled, but that part was only appalled that she couldn’t find any emotion in herself even close to regret. Which could only mean….she’d wanted to sleep with him.</p><p> </p><p>She couldn’t ponder that thought much further because a strong pair of arms was pulling her into an embrace. It was easy to relax into it as he stroked at her hair, whispering, “Shh, shh, shh. Everything is going to be fine; I promise.” Rey let Ben rock her back and forth until her emotions began to settle and she let out an involuntary little sigh. He pulled back to look at her and wiped at her tears with his thumb. “Let’s fix this, just-just tell me what you need me to do, okay?” Rey nodded at him, getting lost for a moment in the depths of the rich brown and golden hues of his irises. He shifted her from his lap, just momentarily so he could stand, and he pulled her to her feet. The air was chilly now, and she wrapped herself more tightly in her own arms.</p><p> </p><p>With every glance at the damage they’d caused in Luke’s shop, she winced. She had no idea how, even with the help of magic, they were going to fix everything. Their first stop was the store cupboard, which had borne the brunt of the damages. Ben spotted their clothing, and rather than try to traverse over the shattered glass that covered the floor he snapped at the clothing and let the various garments bob along through the air, dropping in a small pile at their feet. Rey sorted through and found her own outfit. Ben looked away as they got dressed, and she thought she could see a tinge of pink on his cheeks. That tinge blossomed to a bright crimson when she let out a little complaining sigh at the state of her shirt. Without knowing exactly where all of the buttons had flown, there was no way to summon them back, and thus no way for her to repair it. Ben cleared his throat and removed the shirt he’d so recently donned, holding it out for her to put on.</p><p> </p><p>Rey hesitantly took it, their fingertips brushing each other for the briefest of intervals. She shrugged out of the ruined blouse and pulled the shirt over herself before uttering to the ground a quiet, “Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>“No problem,” she heard the whispered reply. She looked up and saw the pained expression as Ben began to take in the full scope of the damage they’d done together. He coughed slightly and ran a hand through his still disheveled hair. “So…. where do we start?”</p><p> </p><p>Ben it turned out, could be useful when he chose, and he dutifully listened as she outlined what would likely need to be done to fix everything. Unfortunately, it meant that no one was going to be allowed to come into the shop that day, but with no small amount of luck and plenty of teamwork they should be able to hide any trace of the previous night from Luke at the very least.</p><p> </p><p>There he was, repairing the shelves with a determined expression on his face. She sorted the contents of the apothecary out into neat piles as she gathered the glass shards up and salvaged as many jars as she could muster. Some of the inventory was completely trashed, she thought with guilt, but most could be saved. Every so often she’d find Ben sneaking a glance at her, but every time she made contact, he hurriedly turned his attention back to whatever task he was trying to perform.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, it came time to tackle the most dangerous part of the endeavor and they looked at the dusting of purple that lay on the main floor of the shop. Both came armed with masks this time, and for good measure Ben made a little shield over top of the broom that Rey controlled as it swept the pollen up into the dust bin. They floated the entire mess several feet in front of them and threw it, broom and all, into the dumpster out back.</p><p> </p><p>Rey collapsed into a chair in Luke’s office, Ben on the small couch and they found rest at the end of a <em>very </em>long day. She looked over at Ben where he reclined, his arm covering his eyes, and said softly, “Thank you, Ben. For helping me today. I-I think we made a pretty good team.”</p><p> </p><p>He slowly lowered his arm to peer at her, something like shyness on his face now. “Y-yeah. Glad I didn’t make you do all the hard work alone this time.” She rolled her eyes and threw a wadded paper ball at him that he didn’t bother to deflect. “So…..”</p><p> </p><p>She sighed, wondering when this conversation would come up. She wasn’t quite prepared just yet but supposed that they couldn’t avoid talking about it forever. ”So?”</p><p> </p><p>“Last night, that was…different.” It was probably the lamest way that he could have phrased it and Rey couldn’t help but laugh.</p><p> </p><p>“Different? You mean you don’t normally destroy your relations’ businesses when you…” she trailed off.</p><p> </p><p>He grinned, not a smirk like she was used to, but not quite a full smile either. It was a happy, crooked half smile that tugged up the corner of his mouth and made him look charming somehow. “Not as a rule, no. But the other stuff. I mean, I’ve never…lost control….like that before.” He referenced the passionate explosions of their comingled powers and she nodded, understanding.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, Venerem pollen is a powerful substance. You’re really not supposed to use more than a pinch at a time, even in very strong love potions. But there are other ingredients in a love potion that temper the effects, keep the user balanced. By itself, the pollen is very good at lowering inhibitions and barriers. That’s probably why we couldn’t control our powers under its influence.” Ben nodded along to her explanation like an apt pupil. “Venerem pollen stimulates the parts of your brain that control…desire. But it was never intended to be used in such…high quantities.”</p><p> </p><p>“So…last night was just one gigantic brain overload on our sex drives?” he asked, his brow furrowing for a second. She looked at him for a long second before answering.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes…and no,” she said hesitantly. He looked at her in turn, trying to puzzle out her next words. “Like I said, it lowers inhibitions. We probably would have ended up having sex regardless, but the things we said….” She stopped herself, remembering the sweet things that Ben had whispered in her ear between their various encounters. How she was beautiful, no, the <em>most </em>beautiful, how she was perfect, how he had wanted her since the first moment he’d seen her. She also thought about the things she’d said to him in turn about wanting him, <em>all </em>of him.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh. <em>Oh</em>.” He replied and looked at the ceiling to distract himself as his face went red again. “About that…”</p><p> </p><p>“We don’t-we don’t have to talk about it,” Rey said, “If you don’t want to.” She couldn’t tell if the look on his face was one of relief or not. She decided not to press it, standing up from the chair instead. She made her way to the store cupboard, now a tidy array of shelves once more and picked a couple of things out. Ben followed her curiously and she set to grinding the ingredients together with a mortar until they made a nice, fresh smelling paste. That was the dandelions. She murmured the incantation over the blend. He didn’t comment on her work but came over to her side when she beckoned. She dipped two fingers into the balm and spread it on the dark purple mark on his neck.</p><p> </p><p>At first, he tried to flinch away from the messy substance, but she stopped to explain, “It’s a healing salve. It’ll…help.” Ben stopped trying to squirm away then and let her tend to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks,” was all he said, but she could see how his throat bobbed slightly at her touch. She moved around him, still bare from the waist up, and applied more of the balm to the rather angry scratch marks that made a hatched pattern over his back. A few more unfortunate bruises and then she turned the salve on herself. “Here, let me do that.”</p><p> </p><p>Ben held out his hands for the container and she warily passed it to him. He fixed her skin with a determined eye and she couldn’t help but notice her skin heating up under the gentle touch of his fingers. The most jarring part was how this time it had nothing to do the Venerem Pollen. He turned her gently and she could feel his breath on her neck when he moved her hair out of the way to tend to the mottled skin on her collarbone. Finally, they were as good as they were going to be and he set the salve back down.</p><p> </p><p>“I, um, well…I guess I should be getting home,” he said, running his hand through his hair, a shy awkwardness stealing over him now.</p><p> </p><p>Ben turned to go and without thinking, Rey reached out and grabbed his wrist to stop him. “Ben, wait.”</p><p> </p><p>He turned to look at her, a hopeful expression in eyes, “Yes?”</p><p> </p><p>“Erm, about everything….Last night, it wasn’t, well-it’s wasn’t totally horrible.” Rey thought quietly perhaps that she shouldn’t have said anything, but now she had already dived into the metaphorical deep end. “If you wanted to….I might not mind,” she struggled to get out the words, “if you wanted to do that again sometime. Just next time we’ll maybe skip the pollen?” Whatever he’d been expecting, that hadn’t been it apparently and he blinked at her stupidly.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh…”</p><p> </p><p>“Unless you’re not comfortable with it, because then we shouldn’t but I thought, what you said-“ Rey was babbling now to try to cover up the uncomfortable silence and her cheeks were hot when Ben cut her off with a kiss. Not a hungry or demanding kiss. A sweet one where she could feel how soft his lips were as he pressed them against hers. A hesitant tongue traced over her bottom lip and she met it with equal tentativeness. She could melt into this kiss.</p><p> </p><p>“No, I mean, yes,” Ben said, after they caught their breath. “Yes, I’d like to do that again with you sometime. But maybe tonight we can just go get something to eat together? After I get a shirt first, of course.”</p><p> </p><p>“That sounds…wonderful,” she flashed him a timid smile from under her lashes and dropped her hand down to find his. It was warm and firm as she interlaced their fingers. The corner of his mouth tugged up again and she leaned into him as they locked the shop up for the night.</p>
<hr/><p>When Luke returned to his shop after a rather overlong journey to meet with his new unicorn hair supplier, he noticed a few things.</p><p> </p><p>First, the shop was in impeccable order. This shouldn’t surprise him because he’d left Rey, not Ben in charge of the proceedings. The second was the shop was quiet. Remarkably quiet. This was unusual because normally, at least in the last month, he’d been present for hours of bickering, the occasional screaming match, and if he was truly lucky the sound of one or both of his employees costing him money in inventory. Today, it was silent.</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t see his employees and wondered if perhaps neither of them had thought to open the shop on time. This was likely not the case as the door was unlocked, and he knew that Rey was far too responsible to have left the door unlocked the previous night after closing. The second possibility that came to mind was that Rey had managed to murder his nephew and now the blessed silence came from the fact that she was busy hiding the body. He thought perhaps that Ben probably had it coming, but it would be a real bear to explain to his mother. Leia had thought that a summer at Uncle Luke’s shop would do him some good, and hopefully get him out of her hair and out from under her feet, but ultimately, she was quite fond of her son.</p><p> </p><p>What Luke didn’t expect, as he made the rounds in the small shop was to see Ben and Rey huddled over the store catalogue as she quietly instructed him on the different wares that were made available to their customers. He’d never seen his nephew so intent while on the clock, and there was something about the way that they stood just a little too close together. Or maybe it was the way that she cast a smile his way before tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Or the way that Ben brushed against Rey’s hand with his fingers. Luke smirked a bit to himself, guessing what had caused the two to finally set aside their differences. Oh yes, Ben’s mother would be quite pleased at this turn of events.</p><p> </p><p>Luke took this time to clear his throat and the two looked up at him, startled by his sudden appearance.</p><p> </p><p>“L-Luke, you’re back!” Rey said, her cheeks growing ever so slightly pink. “We didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, well, my journey was not quite as fruitful as I might have liked,” he said, hiding his new knowledge under his usual gruff voice. “So, how did everything go in my absence. I see that neither of you managed to burn the shop to the ground.” To this Ben began coughing quite violently, and Rey thumped him quite hard on the back. Perhaps a little harder than strictly necessary, if Luke really stopped to consider it.</p><p> </p><p>“It was fine, everything went just <em>fine</em>,” Rey said, sidestepping Ben who looked slightly recovered from his attack. Rey began to rattle off the proceedings, the regular customers, how she had managed to haggle with Unkar Plutt, but he held up a hand to stop her.</p><p> </p><p>“I knew I was leaving the shop in capable hands,” he said with a hint of a smile. “Oh, come to think of it, did we ever get that pollen shipment from the Tico Greenhouse?” Rey’s nervous smile faltered for a second before she looked up and cleared her throat.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, well, about that. Um, apparently there was an issue with the harvest. The whole thing was lost. Rose was just absolutely devastated. But, erm, there shouldn’t be an issue with next month’s shipment.” There was something there, Luke could tell, not least of which because Rey was a terrible liar. But he was too tired at the moment to really press the issue. So what if a few overenthusiastic middle aged witches didn’t have their love brews for the next cauldron social?</p><p> </p><p>“Well, that’s a shame,” he said and turned to go. “Well, I’ll just be in my office then. As you both were.” They nodded at him and he turned away, letting them get back to whatever they were doing that had finally resulted in this wonderful silence. He could handle fools in love much better than his shop being destroyed by their fighting.</p><p> </p><p>As he settled into his chair he leaned back, placing his hands behind his head and his eyebrow quirked at the sight directly overhead. “Does anyone want to explain what happened to the ceiling?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I finally got the <a href="https://twitter.com/_RamboBrite_"> twitter</a>. Find ya girl there.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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